Northwestern Intersections

Recovering the Philosophy of the Self, with Adina Bezerita '17

Adina Bezerita is a Romanian-American, award-winning Oxford-Cambridge philosopher and scholar, whose works pioneer interdisciplinary projects in ancient wisdom relevant to contemporary thought across the humanities and sciences. With her Numinous Threads foundation (2016), Adina provides leadership, education, consultation and collaboration to individuals, profit and non-profit organizations and to governmental bodies for achieving visionary goals in the polyvalent world. Adina serves as a ...

’Cats in Sports Media, with Lisa Byington ’98, ’99 MS and Cassidy Hubbarth ’07

Byington is a play-by-play commentator who has covered major sports events, including the Women’s World Cup and Olympic Games. She’s the first woman to do play-by-play for the NCAA men's basketball tournament and for a men’s professional basketball team, the Milwaukee Bucks. Hubbarth is an Emmy Award–winning Evanston native who works as an anchor for ESPN’s SportsCenter, NBA Tonight, and First Take. Join us as we discuss the changing sports media landscape and the rich legacy of Northwestern...

Telling Unheard Stories of Women’s Suffrage, with Ronny Frishman ’72

Frishman is an author and former news reporter and editor. She has written human interest and medical health articles and recently began writing children’s books. Her recent book, Nina Allender: Suffrage Cartoonist, illuminates the life and work of an underappreciated hero in the women’s suffrage movement. Join us as we discuss how she helped tell the story of one of America’s first female political cartoonists and what Women’s History Month means to her.

A Northwestern Life, with MaryAnn Ihejirika Marsh ’85

Marsh has served the University in countless meaningful ways, including as president of the Northwestern University Black Alumni Association (NUBAA), a member of the Northwestern University Leadership Circle (NULC) Chicago Regional Board, and a host of alumni events at her jazz club, M Lounge, in Chicago’s South Loop. She was an importer-exporter of American blue jeans in Europe before returning to Chicago to become an art gallery owner and now a real estate broker. Join us as we explore her...

Love and Northwestern

Join us for a special episode celebrating alumni who coupled up at Northwestern. Six guests share short stories about finding true love on campus. Take a break from the cold and warm your heart with tales of campus romance.

Memoir, Family, and Truth, with Leta McCollough Seletzky ’98

McCollough Seletzky was a litigator before becoming an award-winning writer and memoirist with work featured in the Atlantic, O Magazine, and the New York Times. Join us as we discuss her memoir, The Kneeling Man: My Father’s Life as a Black Spy Who Witnessed the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and her journey to discover her family history.

How to Reinvent Yourself in Media, with Joey Skladany ’09

Skladany is an icon across industries, working as a television and radio personality, writer, editor, publicist, and lifestyle content expert. He has worked on countless projects with recognizable brands, from People magazine and Apartment Therapy to Food Network and CBS. Join us as we discuss his ubiquitous career path and the lessons he has learned from working in multiple industries.

Lunch Tray Management, with Kathryn Hahn ’95 and Ethan Sandler ’95

Hahn and Sandler met on campus and have been a Northwestern power couple ever since! Their careers have included acting and producing credits on some of Hollywood’s most memorable productions, from New Girl and Meet the Robinsons to WandaVision and Private Life. Join us as they discuss their time at Northwestern, finding their way in Hollywood, and working together in the industry. 

Sports and Society, with Julie Kliegman ’13

Kliegman is a sportswriter and copy chief at Sports Illustrated. Her journalism often focuses on underrepresented topics in sports and society, including gender, asexuality, and mental health. She shares valuable lessons on working as a sports journalist and finding stories that matter. Join us as we discuss her important work and her upcoming book, Mind Games: An Inside Look at the Mental Health Playbook of Elite Athletes, due out in March 2024.

Writing Your Reality (TV), with Toni Gallagher ’87

Gallagher is a television producer and author based in Los Angeles. She worked on MTV’s wildly successful The Real World and went on to become an executive producer for several major reality TV shows, including The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood, and Married at First Sight. Join us as she talks about her time in Hollywood and how she found the inspiration for her Twist My Charm young adult book series.

Chicago through Poetry, with Angela Jackson ’77

Jackson is an author, playwright, and poet currently serving as the Illinois Poet Laureate. She is a Chicagoan through and through, having grown up on the South Side, and uses her experiences in the area as inspiration for her poems and novels. Her works have been awarded major literary honors, including the Pushcart Prize, Carl Sandburg Literary Award, and American Book Award. Join us as we talk through her creative trajectory and the sights, smells, and sounds of Chicago that influenced so...

Episode 143: Navigating the News, with Bill Lord ’73

Lord is a Peabody and Emmy Award–winning journalist, an author, and a Vietnam War veteran. He went from a career in television news management to writing the book, 50 Years After Vietnam: Lessons and Letters from the War I Hated Fighting, in 2018. Lord has reported in several major American cities, including Nashville, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC, and was also a correspondent for NBC News. Join us as he discusses breaking news, pursuing the truth, and sharing your own story.

Telling History's Most Neglected Stories, with Marie Arana ’71

Arana is a prize-winning author, literary critic, and inaugural literary director of the Library of Congress. She has been an executive at publishing houses Simon & Schuster and Harcourt Brace, a judge for the National Book Awards and Pulitzer Prizes, a Latin America columnist for the New York Times editorial page, a media commentator for numerous news outlets, and editor in chief of Book World at the Washington Post. Join us as we explore her incredible literary contributions and discuss he...

Making Marketing Authentic, with Kristian Alomá ’02

Alomá is a CEO, lecturer, and author based in Chicago. He went from working in communications and consulting to lecturing at Northwestern to founding his own marketing company, Threadline. Alomá applies his knowledge of narrative psychology to the practice of marketing and branding, serving as a self-described “couples therapist” for clients and their customers. Join us as Alomá talks about his journey toward founding his dream company and finding time to write a bestselling book, Start with...

A Fireside Chat with University Trustee Ginni Rometty ’79, ’15 H and Northwestern President Michael Schill

Ginni Rometty came to Northwestern after a challenging childhood and left with a computer science degree that would help her change the world of technology. In 1981, she joined IBM as a systems engineer and worked her way to becoming chairman, president and CEO of the company. Ms. Rometty helped revolutionize the global tech giant in the 2010s and became one of the country’s most influential business leaders. In this special episode, we share a fireside chat between Rometty and Northwestern ...

Writing your own path, with Ayun Halliday ’87

Ayun Halliday is a writer, illustrator, and actor based out of New York City. She is a creative jack-of-all-trades, serving as the architect for plays, books, and her own zine, the award-winning East Village Inky. Halliday's unique comedic style has won her acclaim for her creative projects, and she’s taken the road less traveled to her current work. Join us as she discusses her new book, creative background, and wide-reaching (and usually hilarious) job history.

Becoming a Poet, with Mary Jo Bang ’71, ’75 MA

Mary Jo Bang is an award-winning poet and professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis. After finishing her sociology degree at Northwestern, she took a winding road to becoming a poet, working in medicine and photography before her first teaching job. Her path to poetry paid off: she's now published eight books of poetry, earned fellowships from Princeton University and the Guggenheim Foundation, and featured in The New Yorker and other publications. Join us as Professor Bang ...

APIDA Heritage Month Special Episode with Phil Yu '00

Award-winning author, blogger, podcaster, and proud Northwestern alumnus, Phil Yu '00 first came to prominence as the author of the popular entertainment website Angry Asian Man. In this special episode, Phil is interviewed by author and Northwestern Asian and Asian American Alumni Association (NU-A5) member Kathy Khang '92. Phil shares how his experiences at Northwestern and beyond helped to develop his own personal identity as an Asian American man and influenced his career as a blogger an...

Embracing Opportunities When It Outpaces Your Experiences, with Bradley Akubuiro ’11

Akubuiro, partner at Bully Pulpit Interactive, an advisory firm with locations in Chicago and Washington, DC, has had many experiences made possible by taking the initiative to seize opportunities even when they outpaced his experiences. That includes meeting Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. outside of a press conference and making a case to Jackson to join the Reduce the Rate campaign, a movement to lower the interest rates on student loans. He later took a role to serve as an adviser to the Republic...

What Does It Mean to Be a Woman in Medicine? With Shelly Vaziri Flais ’95, ’99 MD, ’02 GMER; Kavitha Gandhi ’94, ’98 MD, ’99 GMER; and Nupur Ghoshal ’01 PhD, ’03 MD

It started with the first Women in Medicine Tea hosted at The Drake Hotel in Chicago in 2017. It was a chance for Feinberg School of Medicine alumnae across generations to come together in one place to freely share their stories, their challenges, and their victories. Ghoshal recalls asking, “How do we bottle this moment?” The mission of the Women in Medicine (WIM) subcommittee of the Medical Alumni Association Board is to elevate and amplify the voices of fellow women in medicine. In part 2...

What Does It Mean to Be a Woman in Medicine? With Shelly Vaziri Flais ’95, ’99 MD, ’02 GMER; Kavitha Gandhi ’94, ’98 MD, ’99 GMER; and Nupur Ghoshal ’01 PhD, ’03 MD

It started with the first Women in Medicine Tea hosted at The Drake Hotel in Chicago in 2017. It was a chance for Feinberg School of Medicine alumnae across generations to come together in one place to freely share their stories, their challenges, and their victories. Ghoshal recalls asking, “How do we bottle this moment?” The mission of the Women in Medicine (WIM) subcommittee of the Medical Alumni Association Board is to elevate and amplify the voices of fellow women in medicine. In part 1...

What’s Next Live from San Francisco! An Alumnae Panel with Emily Moy ’18, Erin Turner ’14, and Tori Wu ’20

Northwestern Intersections records for the first time from Northwestern San Francisco! Learn from a panel of recent alumnae in a range of tech specialties as they share how they navigated early career decisions. Panelists Moy, Turner, and Wu will offer insights on pursuing advanced degrees, changing industries, recognizing your transferrable skills, and how they’re navigating a rapidly evolving field. They will also share how they answered (and are still answering) what’s next in their career.

The Intersection of the Humanities and Technology with Iga Kozlowska ’14 MA, ’17 PhD

Iga Kozlowska ’14 MA, ’17 PhD graduated from Northwestern with a doctorate in sociology and now is the program manager of Responsible AI at Meta. How did she make the transition? And how is sociology relevant to technology? Kozlowska joins the podcast to highlight the transferrable skills she learned as a student and share the process behind her transition into tech with zero previous experience. She also reinforces how imperative it is for people with humanities backgrounds to be involved i...

The Intersection of the Humanities and Technology with Iga Kozlowska ’14, ’17 PhD

Iga Kozlowska ’14, ’17 PhD graduated from Northwestern with a doctorate in sociology and now is the program manager of Responsible AI at Meta. How did she make the transition? And how is sociology relevant to technology? Kozlowska joins the podcast to highlight the transferrable skills she learned as a student and share the process behind her transition into tech with zero previous experience. She also reinforces how imperative it is for people with humanities backgrounds to be involved in t...

Bending the Arc of History toward Justice, with Terry Franklin ’84

Terry Franklin—an attorney, writer, and storyteller—shares how finding the will of his fourth great-grandfather, John Sutton, revealed the emancipation story of his fourth great-grandmother, Lucy Sutton, and their children, which included a legal battle over John’s intentions in freeing his family. Franklin describes the deeply personal journey of discovering his family’s history and how he is using creative pursuits to amplify his ancestors’ story, demonstrating that we all have a role to p...

How Mental Health Companies and Social Media Are Shaping Private Practice, with Kevin Yu ’19 MS

Kevin Yu ’19 MS joins Northwestern Intersections to share the personal story of how he pivoted from a career in finance to a licensed marriage and family counselor and founder of Soulstice Therapy, and how an increased understanding of his relationships led to this unique transition. Additionally, Yu explains how social media and content creation are changing the ways we discuss and perceive mental health. And why he encourages Soulstice practioners to create mental wellness content. Finally...

How Mental Health Companies and Social Media Are Shaping Private Practice, with Kevin Yu ’19 MA

Kevin Yu ’19 MA joins Northwestern Intersections to share the personal story of how he pivoted from a career in finance to a licensed marriage and family counselor and founder of Soulstice Therapy, and how an increased understanding of his relationships led to this unique transition. Additionally, Yu explains how social media and content creation are changing the ways we discuss and perceive mental health. And why he encourages Soulstice practioners to create mental wellness content. Finally...

Community Is a Foundation for Healing, with Inger Burnett-Zeigler ’09 PhD

Dr. Inger Burnett-Zeigler shares how she is working to provide mental health resources—including accurate information, access to identity-based providers and treatments, and psychotherapy in community-based settings—to underserved populations in Chicago. Author of Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen: The Emotional Lives of Black Women, Burnett-Zeigler also reveals the inspiration behind her book, its intersections with her research as a scholar and clinician, and how she hopes it will help re...

How to Make a Positive Impact, with 2022 Northwestern Alumni Medalist David Louie ’72

The Northwestern Alumni Medal celebrates alumni who have had a transformative impact on their field, who have performed exemplary volunteer service to society, or who have demonstrated an outstanding record of service and support to the University.  Until his recent retirement, David Louie ’72 was the business editor and technology reporter for ABC Disney’s KGO-TV San Francisco, for which he become the first Asian American reporter in 1972. A trailblazing reporter and editor, he worked in ...

How to Make a Positive Impact, with 2022 Northwestern Alumni Medalist Jeff Ubben

The Northwestern Alumni Medal celebrates alumni who have had a transformative impact on their field, who have performed exemplary volunteer service to society, or who have demonstrated an outstanding record of service and support to the University. Jeff Ubben ’87 MBA (’20 P) is founder, managing partner, and portfolio manager of Inclusive Capital Partners, a San Francisco–based investment management firm. He has championed environmental and social responsibility in business and advanced gl...

How to Make a Positive Impact, with 2022 Northwestern Alumni Medalist Cindy Chupack ’87

The Northwestern Alumni Medal celebrates alumni who have had a transformative impact on their field, who have performed exemplary volunteer service to society, or who have demonstrated an outstanding record of service and support to the University.  Cindy Chupack ’87 is a prolific storyteller whose work across television, film, and other media has been recognized with several accolades, including Emmy Awards and Golden Globes. Her credits include Sex and the City, Everybody Loves Raymond, ...

The First Lady of Personal Branding, Melissa Dawn Simkins ’01 MS

Melissa Dawn Simkins ’01 MS shares how her experiences in the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications’ IMC master’s program gave her an edge when the field of marketing was starting to shift. Her multidisciplinary approach led her to pioneer celebrity and influencer branding, which in turn helped transform the field of marketing and branding into what we know today. She also imparts the personal story that inspired her to launch Velvet Suite and the She-Suite ...

What’s Next Live from Chicago! An Alumni Panel with Jennifer Siedjak ’14, Jim Alrutz ’16, and Ameen Kishta ’22 MS

What's Next Live from Chicago is back! In this episode of Northwestern Intersections recorded live from Medill Chicago, learn from a panel of recent alumni about their postgraduate journeys. Alumni from the fields of user experience research, conflict resolution, and biomedical engineering share how they navigated early career decisions. Panelists Jennifer Siedjak, Jim Alrutz, and Ameen Kishta offer insights including how they entered fields different from their areas of study, their choice ...

Finding Your North Star with Suchi Sethi Tuli ’10 MBA

In this episode of Northwestern Intersections, Suchi Sethi Tuli—head of recruiting for Google Cloud in the Japan and Asia-Pacific region and a member of NU-Kellogg Club of Singapore and the Alumni Admissions Council—shares how she first stumbled into recruiting as a student at the Kellogg School of Management. She offers her insights on the lessons she’s learned about leadership and how the connections she made with classmates helped her build a personal board of directors. Tuli also shares...

Helping Others Rewrite Their Stories with Mirielle Ranade ’09

What do public affairs specialists and mental health practitioners have in common? The ability to listen and the desire to help someone tell their story. In this episode of Northwestern Intersections, Ranade shares the deeply personal story that inspired her career pivot into mental health and wellness with a focus in helping women navigate grief, anxiety, and depression. She also highlights the transferrable skills she developed while working in corporate PR at GE Healthcare. Ranade is now ...

‘GRACE: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America’ with Cody Keenan '02

In this special bonus episode of Northwestern Intersections, join us for an account from Barack Obama’s chief speechwriter, Cody Keenan ’02, of the 10 most dramatic days of the presidency, when a hate-fueled massacre and looming Supreme Court decisions put the character of the US on the line and a president’s words could bring the nation together or tear it apart. Authored by Keenan, GRACE is an intimate writing on the rhetorical tightrope America's first Black president had to walk, culmina...

Leadership is a Journey with Ameet Mallik ’94, ’95 MS

Ameet Mallik, the new CEO of ADC Therapeutics—a commercial-stage biotechnology company improving the lives of those affected by cancer—joins the podcast to reflect on what leadership means to him. He speaks about the foundational moments during his Northwestern and post-graduate experiences that shaped his career trajectory. He also offers his insights on building diverse teams of experts and creating positive impact, and the importance of feeling shared sense of purpose within your organiza...

Online Privacy Rights and the Datafication of Our Lives with University Trustee Jane S. Hoffman ’86 (’21 P)

Since she was a student at Northwestern, University Trustee Jane S. Hoffman ’86 (’21 P) has been interested in how messages and media are constructed and consumed. And found she could help others understand complex subjects through storytelling and accessible language, and through public service. As Commissioner of Consumer Affairs in New York City, Hoffman found herself never tiring of hearing people's problems and finding solutions. During her run for Lieutenant Governor of New York she ...

Welcome (Back) to the Northwestern Alumni Association, Yari Gallegos ’19, ’20 MS

In 2018 Yari Gallegos joined the Northwestern Alumni Association (NAA) as a young alumni/Homecoming intern. Now she’s returned to the NAA as assistant director of alumni engagement for student to alumni transitions. In her new role she’s helping to organize programs like New Chapter. NU Neighbors and staple events for Homecoming. In this episode of Northwestern Intersections, Gallegos shares how her experiences as an undergraduate student inspired her to pursue a career in higher education. ...

A Conversation with Supreme Court and Appellate Lawyer Carter Phillips ’75 MA, ’77 JD

The Northwestern Intersections podcast joins the Northwestern Law Alumni Fireside Chat Event Series for a live interview with Phillips, one of the most experienced Supreme Court and appellate lawyers in the country, co-director of the Northwestern University Supreme Court Clinic and an adjunct professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law as well as a partner at Sidley Austin LLP. Phillips will share how his career trajectory started with ambitious clerkships, his most memorable cases, an...

How Storytelling is a Powerful Form of Advocacy with Rebecca Kling ’07

It's empowering to tell your story, but even more so to empower others to share their own. As a student in Performance Studies at Northwestern and throughout her time at Piven Theatre Workshop, Rebecca Kling ’07 gathered the tools of performance: movement, storytelling, adaption, audience, lighting. After graduation while in Tim Miller's paradigm shifting workshop at Link's Hall, "Charged Bodies", Kling understood how those tools could be applied internally: sharing her own personal narrativ...

All About NUPAC and Their Podcast Who NU? with Len Iaquinta ’66 and Marc Staros ’09

Who are the alumni behind Northwestern University Pride Alumni Club’s podcast Who NU?? And what is Who NU? all about? Host Len Iaquinta ’66 and producer Marc Staros ’09, share stories about their respective Northwestern experiences and their career paths after graduation. Iaquinta details how he pursued a career in broadcast radio and eventually philanthropy that led to a seven year position at Northwestern. While Staros pursued a successful career in consulting and eventually became an inde...

What’s Next in Your Career? An Alumni Panel with Baindu Kallon ’14, David Chase ’13, and Nancy Le ’20

In this special episode of Northwestern Intersections, learn from a panel of recent alumni about their postgraduate journeys. Alumni from the fields of international development, STEM, entrepreneurship, and consulting will share how they navigated job and career changes, and decisions around pursuing advanced degrees. As well as their advice for current Northwestern students who are thinking about the post-graduation job search and how to take advantage of on-campus resources. Moderated by 4...

Strengthening Systems in the Service of Underserved Communities with Anoop Jain ’09

Anoop Jain ’09, founding director of Sanitation and Health Rights in India (SHRI), has always had a deep sense of social justice. As a Northwestern student he observed how the most vulnerable of New Orleans' population was disproportionality impacted by Hurricane Katrina. And later on a trip to Guatemala as part of Alternative Student Breaks, he found himself deeply impacted by working in fellowship and breaking bread with communities there. Later, after graduating Northwestern, he fundraise...

If It Clicks, If It Feels Right, Go with Your Gut with Irene Kang ’11

Irene Kang ’11 has lived multiple lives. In her first she worked in the field of environmentalism and sustainability. In her second, she's the founder of Spark Collection—bilingual books for families to learn language in a fun and meaningful way. Throughout the course of these lives, the most important decisions she made were by trusting her intuition when something felt right: choosing Northwestern, pursuing environmentalism, and meeting her husband (and fellow alumni) Chris, and creating S...

Preserving Memories and Creating Connections through Photography with Justin Barbin ’11

Justin Barbin's ’11 interest in photography originated out of a desire to preserve memories. Documenting family and friends, events and milestones, even arbitrary moments allowed him to recall feelings and experiences with clarity. Photography also allowed him to connect with Northwestern community as a student. The impact his photographs had is best exemplified when the Northwestern community came together to fundraise for Barbin after his camera was stolen junior year. Whether he's document...

Why It’s Important to Bring Your Full Self to the Lab with Brian Aguado ’13 MS, ’15 PhD

Brian Aguado ’13 MS, ’15 PhD has always valued commitments to research, diversity, and being part of a supportive community. Those qualities are some of the main reasons why he chose Northwestern and are qualities that are clearly evidenced in his career journey. An Assistant Professor at UC San Diego, Dr. Aguado runs the Aguado iBiomaterials Research Group which focuses on the study of sex differences in cardiovascular disease using biomaterial technologies. He dedicates time to cultivating...

Why It’s Important to Bring Your Full Self to the Lab with Dr. Brian Aguado ’13 MS, ’15 PhD

Dr. Brian Aguado ’13 MS, ’15 PhD has always valued commitments to research, diversity, and being part of a supportive community. Those qualities are some of the main reasons why he chose Northwestern and are qualities that are clearly evidenced in his career journey. An Assistant Professor at UC San Diego, Dr. Aguado runs the Aguado iBiomaterials Research Group which focuses on the study of sex differences in cardiovascular disease using biomaterial technologies. He dedicates time to cultiva...

Authenticity, Vulnerability, and Growth with Liza Katzer ’08

Liza Katzer ’08 describes herself as a late bloomer. She applied to 21 different colleges before deciding on Northwestern; didn't quite know what she wanted to do after graduating (but thought "producer" sounded right); got laid off while working at Disney; and silently struggled with mental health and insecurity well into her 20s. An Emmy-winning producer for her work on the acclaimed comedy-drama series Ted Lasso, and recently named one of the Hollywood Reporter's 35 Under 35 Upcoming Ente...

Following Your Intellectual and Creative Passions with Cristina A. Bejan '04